Perhaps you're wondering how I was able to buy tickets online and at the train station. It was easy, but it took me a lot of research to be able to do it, and a lot of luck, too. The power of Google translate made it possible for me to buy tickets online, yay! I'm sharing the knowledge for you all, and I hope this could help you in your Taiwan travel planing.
Train Travel in Taiwan from Taipei
As far as I know, Taipei Main Station services the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) trains and the Taiwan High Speed Railways (THSR) trains. TRA has express and ordinary trains. Express trains include Tze-Chiang Limited Express trains, the fastest, and Chu-Kuang Express, the second fastest. Ordinary trains are the local trains, I think those are the ones that services the smaller branches or towns or something. Like when I was planning to visit Shifen waterfalls, the only trains servicing Rueifang to Shifen station are the local trains.
THSR trains are bullet trains. They're really, really fast and you could travel from Taipei to Kaoshsiung (Zuoying station) in just around an hour and a half to two hours.
In this guide, I'll be discussing only about TRA ticketing online because there's an English website for buying the THSR train tickets.
TRA Trains
There are three steps in order to buy a ticket online. These are: 1) Checking the schedule; 2) Reserving the ticket; 3) Buying the ticket.
Checking the Schedule
TRA trains schedule are quite easy to check, but unlike THSR trains, the fares are not displayed. You can check the train schedules HERE.
For example, you want to go from Taipei to Rueifang because you'll be visiting the Jinguashih Gold Ecological Musuem, Jiufen or the Shifen waterfalls in the Pingxi line:
1. Open the schedule browser HERE. Choose FROM - Taipei (1st option) and then Taipei (2nd Option) as seen below. Then choose TO - Taipei (1st option) and then Rueifang (2nd option). There's a drop down menu and there's a bullet-type menu on the right side. Choose from the drop down menu because I don't know what the bullet-type menu does, okay?
2. Then, go down the page and select Express, Ordinary or All Types; the date and time of departure. Just fix the time as is (00:00 to 23:59) so you'll see ALL the scheduled trains for the choosen date, including the earliest and the latest trains. Choose All Types for the train types so you'd see everything. See screen cap below:
3. When you hit the QUERY button, you'd get a page like the one below. You'll be given the train class, train code, origin destination of the train, departure and arrival times and estimated time of travel. Choose the train you want, write down the train class and train code and don't forget the time, too, of course. I choose the Tze Chiang Limited 1051 train for 6:30 am departure, and now, we're ready to RESERVE the ticket!
Reserving TRA Tickets Online
1. Click the Order Ticket button on the left side of the screen above (green side). You'll be directed to the Internet Ticketing page HERE (http://railway.hinet.net/). There'll be a huge ENGLISH button on the lowest left side of the screen and click it. OR, just click this and you'll be directed HERE automatically. You'll get this page:
2. Choose "Order Tickets Using Train No." because I find it easier, then click. You'll see the page below. Fill in the necessary details, including your passport number, and the train code. I put in the passport number and the train code, which is 1051. Just find the station of origin and station of arrival from the drop down menu. There are a lot!
3. Click the "Start to Order" button and you'll be directed to the input-the-random-numbers page. Click "Submit."
4. You're done reserving our ticket! Yipee! Remember that we put "1051" as the train code and we got the correct time for the ticket, which is 6:30 am. Well, just keep in mind that the romanized spellings for the Chinese names of the stations varies, even on the same website. So, our Ruifang above (#2) became Juifang below. After reserving the ticket, we can now buy it online!
Or, buy it directly at the station. See the "Ticket-taking due date" below. You must buy your ticket before the date and time provided. If I remember correctly, you should buy the ticket you booked within 2 days or so, or something at the station. Not so sure. If you don't want to pick-up your ticket beforehand, then, pay for it online and you could pick it up 30 minutes before the train departs.
Buying TRA Tickets Online
This is now the tricky part. Checking the schedule and reserving the ticket is quite easy because there's an English website. But for buying the ticket online, there's no English option. But if you use Google translate, you could understand it enough to buy the ticket! Yay!
1. I totally forgot how I got the E-Payment website of the TRA but here's the direct link. You'll get this page, and Google translate the page to English. I couldn't "screengrab" for some reason, so, I just took photos of my screen. Click the "I accpet" button. While you're at it, read the important information on the booking process.
2. You'll be directed to the next page, which is this one below. Google translate it for English translation.
3. Tick "One-way ticket" if you're buying only a one-way ticket, and if you reserved a return ticket, tick "Return ticket," too. Tick the "Check foreigner." Then fill the blanks, like the ID Number, where you need to place your passport number, and the Computer Code, where you need to input the booking code of your reserved ticket. We have 947945 as booking code above. Click the "Submit" button, or the left button, not the right button, below the page.
4. Then you'll get to the Credit Card Payments page. Google translate it, and you'll have this page. The details of your reserved ticket would be displayed. You'll be asked to input the number of tickets. Just click 1 in the "Adult Ticket Zhang." I don't know what the other selection means, like the vote respect and love zhang. Perhaps they're for senior citizens or whatever? No idea. Click the "Confirmation" button and you'll have a pop-up asking for some stuff which I presume is something like, "Are you sure you booked certain number of tickets" or something. Click "Ok."
5. Then it's time for the credit card payment. Again, Google translate the page. Fill-up the details required, like your credit card number, of course. After you're done, click the payment confirmation on the left (not the right). You'll see the cost of the ticket. Here, it's NTD 72. Although it says yuan in the English translation, don't fret; it's in fact NTD.
6. And wait for the confirmation page. You'll be shown a page, just Google translate it, and there'll be a button that you need to choose so you'd be shown your itinerary/confirmation receipt, like the ones below. Don't forget to Google translate it so you'd know what it means. Print the page in its original form and in its Google-translated form.
7. There you have it. You've bought your ticket online. Just go to the train station, in this case, at the Taipei Main Station at least 30 minutes before your train arrives so you could pick up your ticket at the station. Queue at the ticketing station, and then show your confirmation receipt plus your passport (remember, you wrote down your passport details) and you'd be handed your ticket. Yay!
Check the Status of Your Ticket Purchase for your Peace of Mind
Yup, it pays to be doubly cautious. To check your ticket purchase, go to this link HERE. And Google translate it. Or, just click the second button from the top of the left side bar menu E-Payment main page to get the "Credit card payment record check." Fill it the way you booked the ticket (see #3 Buying tickets online).
You can also check your ticket purchase at the website where you reserved it, HERE at http://railway.hinet.net/. Click on the "Inquire booking records" and type in the necessary details (passport number and booking code).
Cancelling Your Ticket for One Reason or the Other
Yup, you can cancel your ticket and the fare will be refunded but a minimal cancellation fee will be deducted. Go to the main page of the E-Payment page again, then click the 3rd button from the top on the left side menu. Google translate it and fill-in the necessary details. Afterwards, click the "Login Cancel Payment" button.
